Axelrodia reisei

[Gillie]

I am looking into tankmates for my bitaeniata trio and I am trying to decide between n. marginatus and the A. reisei. Is there anyone that has experience with the reisei that can give me any info on possible fry predation?

 

[Gillie]

Nobody?

 

[dwarfpike]

I honestly had never even heard of them before your thread.

But wow, pretty fish.

 

[Tom C]

I always keep some Axelrodia riesei, they are indeed very beautiful:

They live in the Rio Meta drainage in Colombia, and the Rio Orinoco drainage in Venezuela.
They have therefore most likely never seen an Apistogramma bitaeniata, and vice versa.

I usually keep them as dither/target fish in tanks with Apistogramma from the same area, for example Apistogramma macmasteri and Apistogramma sp. "Schwarzkehl".
I have never observed them taking fry, but as the number of fry sometimes decrease significantly the first week of freeswimming, I cannot conclude that they never take any fry.

I have collected Apistogramma bitaeniata many times in the wild in Peru, and quite often Nannostoms marginatus are found in the net together with them.
Here is what I got in the net in the Rio Ampiyacu area, Peru, in 2006; Apistogramma bitaeniata with some larger Pyrrhulina species, and Nannostomus marginatus (to the left):

So I always combine Peruvian Apistogramma bitaeniata with a Peruvian form of Nannostomus marginatus...

I wish you good luck!
'

 

[Gillie]

Thank you for your help Tom.